So after a wonderful week in Italy, I arrived in Sevilla. My host family here rocks! They have two boys 11 and 17. The 11 year old is named Jorge, Sean and I (other student living here) hang out with him a lot. We practice Spanish; he practices English and shows us his video games as he wins them. It’s so much fun, like having a little brother who is so much younger than you that you don’t fight. Anyway, as some of you may know my host family in Barcelona was a little different, I was more of a border without the ability to do anything in the house but here I am part of the family. I’m actually sitting in the living room chatting with Jorge as I write this blog. Today he was practicing The First Noel on his recorder so I was letting him listen to the full US version on Itunes as he had never heard it before. Jorge also loves all of the music I liked in middle school and freshman year of HS. Blackstreet, Gansta’s Paradise, Snoop Dogg, etc it’s pretty entertaining like a flashback to those days. The school in Sevilla is different, the classes are a little slower (not a fan) but they have a lot more activities throughout the day to work on your Spanish. I actually am starting an extra 1.5 hour class this week for more practice along with the other activities. It’s helping my Spanish improve very quickly. Now I just need to learn the future tense and I will be doing well. This month is a film festival in Sevilla so I am watching a lot of Spanish movies. Let me just say the Spanish take movies seriously, as in all they produce are serious thought provoking movies, which I tend to leave a little sad. They don’t quite get the whole light hearted concept but still I am enjoying them.
The other thing I have discovered here is Flamenco! It is amazing, no pictures as they are too hard to capture however, I do have videos so if you want to see some dancing I’ll show you when I return. I have actually taken over 1200 pictures since I’ve arrived. Do not expect me to sit down and show you all 1200 as that is ridiculous. I will print out highlights and best pics to have to talk about but if you want to see all 1200 you can watch a slide show on my computer. I’m holding off on the touristy items in Sevilla until Ashley arrives(6 days away!) and when the family arrives (13 days away!) as I figure it will be fun to discover some of that with them. I can’t wait for my next visitors; it should be a good time. I’ll put up pictures then of Sevilla for everyone to see. Along with a few stories, as apparently my brother feels I will be the klutz on the Segway, not my mother. It’s not cool man!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
My thoughts on this years football season....
#1 I MISS FOOTBALL. Reading about it online just really isn’t the same.
#2 Who would have guessed the AGs would go up to Lubbock and BTHO (to use the Ags catchphrase) Tech. Congrats AGGIES!
#3 Who would have guessed that going into Nov 14th, the Ags and Sooners would be playing for Bowl Eligibility????? And on that note I have something to say.
First, I truly feel bad for Sam Bradford, and all Longhorns should, because it just as easily could have been Colt. However, while I have not made any large comical remarks about OU’s demise this year, I will say this. All Texas and Tech fans should be cheering on the Aggie’s this weekend. Then all Longhorns and Aggies should be cheering on Tech when they play OU. There is a grand chance the State of Texas (as meaning all teams with the name Texas included with their school, sorry Baylor can’t count you) could have a trifecta win against OU. Now how awesome would that be? We fans should put aside our differences of opinions on who is best and cheer for each other for the wonderful feeling of all 3 teams beating OU. How much fun would that be?? This would also help conclude something I’ve said for years, Bob Stoops isn’t as great of a coach as everyone thinks. Plus then we wouldn’t have to deal with Sooners in Dallas for Jerry Bowl #2. :)
#4 Horns fans stay focused on each game each week. While there is a faint smell of roses in the air, we still have to go to College Station and win. The AGs could end up with a great season beating Tech and Texas in the same year. We must do as Mack says and focus only on the game at hand. So today and this week, I’m focus on beating Baylor.
#5 I’m very sad Baylor’s QB was hurt this year. I was looking forward to seeing if the Bears could become Bowl Eligible. Next year baby!
#6 It is nice reading the following passage from Andy Staples on SI.com.
Northern Exposure
So I tried to go over all the scenarios to figure out how Colorado could win Big 12 North, but the sheer schizophrenia of the teams made my head hurt. Let's just stick to the basics. If Kansas State beats Missouri next week and Nebraska wins at Kansas, it will set up a Nov. 21 clash in Lincoln for the division title.
The winner will earn the right to go to Jerry World (aka Dallas Cowboys Stadium) two weeks later and lose to Texas by five touchdowns.
#7 I heart Jordan Shipley
#8 To my sister I say, I’m very sorry about the losses and pending Texas gets the chance to play Florida or Alabama for the National Championship, I hope you will be able to cheer for us while we take them down.
#9 I still think Greg Davis is a moron
#10 It is nice to see USC finally taken off its pedal stool. Whether or not I believe that the Pac-10 is just “that tough” will be held until I see what the Pac-10 does against other conferences during the bowl games.
HOOK EM HORNS!!!
#2 Who would have guessed the AGs would go up to Lubbock and BTHO (to use the Ags catchphrase) Tech. Congrats AGGIES!
#3 Who would have guessed that going into Nov 14th, the Ags and Sooners would be playing for Bowl Eligibility????? And on that note I have something to say.
First, I truly feel bad for Sam Bradford, and all Longhorns should, because it just as easily could have been Colt. However, while I have not made any large comical remarks about OU’s demise this year, I will say this. All Texas and Tech fans should be cheering on the Aggie’s this weekend. Then all Longhorns and Aggies should be cheering on Tech when they play OU. There is a grand chance the State of Texas (as meaning all teams with the name Texas included with their school, sorry Baylor can’t count you) could have a trifecta win against OU. Now how awesome would that be? We fans should put aside our differences of opinions on who is best and cheer for each other for the wonderful feeling of all 3 teams beating OU. How much fun would that be?? This would also help conclude something I’ve said for years, Bob Stoops isn’t as great of a coach as everyone thinks. Plus then we wouldn’t have to deal with Sooners in Dallas for Jerry Bowl #2. :)
#4 Horns fans stay focused on each game each week. While there is a faint smell of roses in the air, we still have to go to College Station and win. The AGs could end up with a great season beating Tech and Texas in the same year. We must do as Mack says and focus only on the game at hand. So today and this week, I’m focus on beating Baylor.
#5 I’m very sad Baylor’s QB was hurt this year. I was looking forward to seeing if the Bears could become Bowl Eligible. Next year baby!
#6 It is nice reading the following passage from Andy Staples on SI.com.
Northern Exposure
So I tried to go over all the scenarios to figure out how Colorado could win Big 12 North, but the sheer schizophrenia of the teams made my head hurt. Let's just stick to the basics. If Kansas State beats Missouri next week and Nebraska wins at Kansas, it will set up a Nov. 21 clash in Lincoln for the division title.
The winner will earn the right to go to Jerry World (aka Dallas Cowboys Stadium) two weeks later and lose to Texas by five touchdowns.
#7 I heart Jordan Shipley
#8 To my sister I say, I’m very sorry about the losses and pending Texas gets the chance to play Florida or Alabama for the National Championship, I hope you will be able to cheer for us while we take them down.
#9 I still think Greg Davis is a moron
#10 It is nice to see USC finally taken off its pedal stool. Whether or not I believe that the Pac-10 is just “that tough” will be held until I see what the Pac-10 does against other conferences during the bowl games.
HOOK EM HORNS!!!
Me encanta Italia!
Okay so many of you are asking for more blogs so here they come…..I’m sorry for the delay but blogging is difficult for me. So everyone’s job is to leave comments on my blog, the Type A in me needs some feedback. When I email or leave status updates on Facebook, I have conversations, let’s be honest anyone who knows me knows I like to talk but I need responses, blogging is like talking to a wall. I need more attention than that :)
Okay so after 9 wonderful weeks in Barcelona, I packed my bags, I was ready to go; I stood outside and left on a jet plane for Italy. Just for the record, I have concluded Italy is my favorite country and Florence is my favorite city. Next time I’m jobless, since I will have conquerored Spanish, I wil
l be moving on to spending 6 months in Italy to learn Italian. I wonder if you can study Italian in Texas, I’d love to start soon. Anyway on this trip I spent 5 days in Roma and 4 days in Florencia. I spent 10 wonderful days drinking wine, eating pasta, eating pizza and loved every minute of it. In Rome we went to the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Vatican City, and wandered around the city. I won´t go into many details on the sites as I know many have seen them. If you haven´t and want advice on what to see first let me know and I´ll bore you with my details. I will say though that during the Angels and Demons tour we ended up at St Peter´s Square in Vatican City while the Pope was conducting the Mass to cauterize the 5 new Catholic S
aints. I saw the Pope on the big screen, which was pretty cool, I wasn´t expecting to actually be that sort of close to the Pope or see him conducting the service. I saw the Sistine Chapel as well which was amazing but we picked the day after the cauterizing. So it was incredibly crowded so either I didn´t get the full effect or I just find the Last Supper the most amazing piece of art work ever. The Last Supper last year left me stunned, you just could feel the chaos of the moment in the art work. However, then you go see the David, the perfect man, and that leaves you pretty happy as well. Still, I have lots more to see in Roma in the next trip……dang I´ll have to go back.
Next we headed to Florence. I love Florence; this was to be the relaxing part of the trip. We ate more food and drank more wine and went shopping!
Okay, I just have to say the trip last year of 5 women left some marks in Florence. We went back to Donatello (the purse shop) and were remembered. We had a great time hanging out with Donatello. We also went back to the food market and bought more cheese, truffle honey, and spices. There is just something about bringing a little part of Italy home that is wonderful. Everyone will be happy to know we did not try to buy yet another case of wine and have that shipped back. Sadly we left the Italian vino in Italia. We also decided to do another cooking class and low and behold ended up in the same class as last year! Anyway, everyone will be proud to know my cooking skills actually improved, I was only taken off one duty this year and was the best at rolling the pasta. Valerie and I will be cooking a pasta dinner from scratch when I return. While I suck at cooking, I have decided I should specialize in Italian cooking because it is yummy. The rest I just don’t care about. 
Anyway, enjoy some of the pics from Italy.
Okay so after 9 wonderful weeks in Barcelona, I packed my bags, I was ready to go; I stood outside and left on a jet plane for Italy. Just for the record, I have concluded Italy is my favorite country and Florence is my favorite city. Next time I’m jobless, since I will have conquerored Spanish, I wil
l be moving on to spending 6 months in Italy to learn Italian. I wonder if you can study Italian in Texas, I’d love to start soon. Anyway on this trip I spent 5 days in Roma and 4 days in Florencia. I spent 10 wonderful days drinking wine, eating pasta, eating pizza and loved every minute of it. In Rome we went to the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Vatican City, and wandered around the city. I won´t go into many details on the sites as I know many have seen them. If you haven´t and want advice on what to see first let me know and I´ll bore you with my details. I will say though that during the Angels and Demons tour we ended up at St Peter´s Square in Vatican City while the Pope was conducting the Mass to cauterize the 5 new Catholic S
aints. I saw the Pope on the big screen, which was pretty cool, I wasn´t expecting to actually be that sort of close to the Pope or see him conducting the service. I saw the Sistine Chapel as well which was amazing but we picked the day after the cauterizing. So it was incredibly crowded so either I didn´t get the full effect or I just find the Last Supper the most amazing piece of art work ever. The Last Supper last year left me stunned, you just could feel the chaos of the moment in the art work. However, then you go see the David, the perfect man, and that leaves you pretty happy as well. Still, I have lots more to see in Roma in the next trip……dang I´ll have to go back.Next we headed to Florence. I love Florence; this was to be the relaxing part of the trip. We ate more food and drank more wine and went shopping!
Okay, I just have to say the trip last year of 5 women left some marks in Florence. We went back to Donatello (the purse shop) and were remembered. We had a great time hanging out with Donatello. We also went back to the food market and bought more cheese, truffle honey, and spices. There is just something about bringing a little part of Italy home that is wonderful. Everyone will be happy to know we did not try to buy yet another case of wine and have that shipped back. Sadly we left the Italian vino in Italia. We also decided to do another cooking class and low and behold ended up in the same class as last year! Anyway, everyone will be proud to know my cooking skills actually improved, I was only taken off one duty this year and was the best at rolling the pasta. Valerie and I will be cooking a pasta dinner from scratch when I return. While I suck at cooking, I have decided I should specialize in Italian cooking because it is yummy. The rest I just don’t care about. 
Anyway, enjoy some of the pics from Italy.
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